General Information

The General Bulletin 2023-2024 is the academic guide for new students at Miami University.

The Student Handbook contains the official policies of the University.

This Bulletin contains the requirements that you must meet for graduation as you enter Miami University in 2023-2024. Miami, however, reserves the right to make changes to its programs. It is your responsibility to check regularly with your academic program advisor for up-to-date information. Consult your academic division’s advising office for specific information on academic policies and procedures, degree programs, and requirements.

"The Engaged University"

Miami University, a student-centered public university founded in 1809, has built its success through an unwavering commitment to liberal arts undergraduate education and the active engagement of its students in both curricular and co-curricular life. It is deeply committed to student success, builds great student and alumni loyalty, and empowers its students, faculty and staff to become engaged citizens who use their knowledge and skills with integrity and compassion to improve the future of our global society.

Miami provides the opportunities of a major university while offering the personalized attention found in the best small colleges. It values teaching and intense engagement of faculty with students through its teacher-scholar model, by inviting students into the excitement of research and discovery. Miami's faculty are nationally prominent scholars and artists who contribute to Miami, their own disciplines and to society by the creation of new knowledge and art. The University supports students in a highly involved residential experience on the Oxford campus and provides access to students, including those who are time-and-place bound, on its regional campuses. Miami provides a strong foundation in the traditional liberal arts for all students, and it offers nationally recognized majors in arts and sciences, business, education, engineering, and fine arts, as well as select graduate programs of excellence. As an inclusive community, Miami strives to cultivate an environment where diversity and difference are appreciated and respected.

Miami instills in its students intellectual depth and curiosity, the importance of personal values as a measure of character, and a commitment to life-long learning. Miami emphasizes critical thinking and independent thought, an appreciation of diverse views, and a sense of responsibility to our global future. 

Miami University is a scholarly community whose members believe that a liberal education is grounded in qualities of character as well as intellect. We respect the dignity of other persons, the rights and property of others, and the right of others to hold and express disparate beliefs. We believe in honesty, integrity, and the importance of moral conduct. We defend the freedom of inquiry that is the heart of learning and combine that freedom with the exercise of judgment and the acceptance of personal responsibility.

For more than 200 years, Miami has strived to create a sense of place that goes well beyond its stunningly beautiful environment. A place where all who come know they are experiencing something special and where all feel welcome. Miami is a place where people can develop a sense of who they are and what they value by working and studying with, listening to and caring for others.

"I Am Miami" is the phrase we use to define the culture to which we aspire and who we are as Miamians.

In 2002, the Miami Board of Trustees endorsed the Values Statement presented above, which that has since inspired an expanded version, that today, is our Code of Love and Honor. Named for our traditional Love and Honor greeting, which, in turn comes from our fight song chorus, "Love and Honor to Miami ... " Our code begins with the words, "I Am Miami," thus uniting Miami tradition and values.

I Am Miami.

I believe that a liberal education is grounded in qualities of character and intellect.

I stand for honesty, integrity, and the importance of moral conduct.

I respect the dignity, rights, and property of others and their right to hold and express disparate beliefs.

I defend the freedom of inquiry that is the heart of learning.

I exercise good judgment and believe in personal responsibility.

I welcome a diversity of people, ideas, and experiences.

I embrace the spirit, academic rigor, opportunities, and challenges of a Miami Experience, preparing me to make the world a better place.

I demonstrate Love and Honor by supporting my fellow Miamians.

And because I Am Miami,

I act through my words and deeds in ways that reflect these values and beliefs.

With a deep sense of accomplishment and gratitude,

I will Love, Honor, and make proud those who help me earn the joy and privilege of saying,

"To think that in such a place, I led such a life."

An act of Congress signed by George Washington in 1792 stipulated that a university be located in the Miami Valley north of the Ohio River. The official act to establish Miami University was passed on February 17, 1809. Miami is the tenth oldest public university in the nation and its name reflects the history of the tribe that once inhabited the area known as Ohio’s Miami Valley.

Delayed by the War of 1812, instruction began in 1824 with a president, two faculty, and 20 students. Enrollment grew rapidly, reaching 250 by 1839.

In the 1830s, William Holmes McGuffey wrote the first of his Eclectic Readers while a Miami professor. Among the many talented young students was Benjamin Harrison, who graduated in 1852; he was elected the 23rd president of the United States in 1888.

A few years after the Civil War, with changed conditions and advancing prices, the income of the university became insufficient to support its work. Miami closed in 1873, opening 12 years later when resources had accumulated and the state of Ohio began a policy of appropriating public funds for support.

Coeducation began in 1888; by 1903 there were more than 100 women on campus - one third of the total enrollment. Our first African American student, Nelly Craig, graduated in 1905.

Many other milestones have been reached. The concept of artist-in-residence began here. Beginning in 1835, four national fraternities were founded here, giving Miami a nickname, "Mother of Fraternities." Another nickname is "Cradle of Coaches," referring to the coaching success of so many former players and coaches. Ohio's first intercollegiate football game was played at Miami in 1888 against the University of Cincinnati.

In the beginning, the course of study at Miami was strictly classical. Over the years, new academic divisions were added to meet the changing needs of students and society: education in 1902, business in 1927, fine arts in 1929, graduate programs in 1947, engineering and applied science in 1959, interdisciplinary studies in 1974, and professional studies and applied sciences in 2013.

In 1974, Miami acquired the Western College for Women, a 120-year-old private institution adjoining the Oxford campus.

Miami’s Middletown and Hamilton campuses opened in 1966 and 1968, respectively. Also in 1968, Miami opened a European center, now named John E. Dolibois European Campus, in Luxembourg. Miami’s Voice of America Learning Center in West Chester opened in 2009.

A number of campus buildings are listed in the National Register of Historic Places, including Elliott, Stoddard, and Peabody halls, and the Western College for Women Historic District. The McGuffey Museum is a National Historic Landmark.